Wincanton, the largest British logistics company, has announced a new strategic partnership with ZigZag, a company which offers a comprehensive, end to end returns solution to the retail market. This partnership forms a part of Wincanton’s recently announced eFulfilment proposition and marks another step in the development of Wincanton’s wider W2 Partner Network.
ZigZag’s technology allows retailers to make returns quick and easy for consumers, giving them the ability to grade their returned products, as well as consolidate, refurbish, locally redistribute, recycle, destroy or even resell their stock internationally.
As the increasing burden of customer expectation continues to transform the ecommerce landscape, returns is one of the key issues facing retailers. By combining ZigZag’s returns management platform with Wincanton’s collaborative logistics expertise, the two companies are able to offer a significant value-add to retailers experiencing increased consumer demand.
Paul Durkin, Director Home and eFulfilment at Wincanton, said: “The changing nature of online sales, coupled with new innovations in the marketplace, means that the retail sector is being disrupted at an unprecedented rate. This is putting retailers under huge pressure to improve their customer service levels, especially the way in which they manage returns so that the customer is able to rapidly repurchase alternative goods.
“In ZigZag, Wincanton has identified a partner with substantial expertise, and a compelling approach to tackling the returns challenge. By integrating Wincanton’s eFulfilment proposition with ZigZag’s technology, we are able to help retailers process and consolidate returns, thereby reducing costs, as well as the burden on their customer service teams. As part of our W2 Partner Network, this agreement is a key differentiator for us.”
Patrick Eve, Managing Director at ZigZag, said: “With retail customers not just desiring, but expecting, both free returns and longer returns windows, our technology aims to solve a complex and expensive problem for retailers.
“We’re providing a cheaper and more efficient way for retailers to analyse their returned stock, decide what to do with it and keep their customers happy. In partnership with Wincanton, we believe we can play a huge role in helping Wincanton’s retail customers to lead the charge on this issue.”
